1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cosmetic container such as a lipstick container. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cosmetic container comprising a housing assembly and a cap assembly with an inner cap member fittable onto the housing assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art cosmetic containers, the housing assembly includes an insert sleeve that is integrally fitted to the upper end portion of a rotatable outer body. The insert sleeve supports a stationary main body while allowing relative rotation therebetween. A cosmetic holder receiving a lipstick is vertically slidably accommodated in the main body. The upper portion of the insert sleeve has an annular projection which becomes fitted within a corresponding annular groove of the inner cap member, when the container is capped.
However, in some case, the annular projection of the insert sleeve is positioned at a level somewhat offset from the position of the annular groove of the inner cap member in the capped condition. This could result from displacement in assembling the inner cap member to an outer cap member.
Furthermore, formation of the annular groove on the inner cap member is practically difficult. When the annular groove do not satisfy a prescribed size requirement, the annular projection fails to be tightly engaged within the annular groove, thereby degrading air-tightness of the cosmetic container.
It is also important that the annular groove should be formed at definite location with respect to the annular projection of the insert sleeve in a capped condition. If the annular groove should be formed offset above the annular projection, the cap would become easy to be inadvertently separated from the container (which is sometime referred to as a xe2x80x9cfloatingxe2x80x9d of the cap), whereas should it be formed offset below the annular projection, the cap would be inserted too much extent into the main body. In both cases, no favorable capping condition can be obtained. Furthermore, the floating of the cap would decrease air-tightness of the container. Since most of recent cosmetic material is volatile, the cosmetic container is required to have an improved air-tightness, otherwise the cosmetic material received therein tends to be deteriorated in a relatively short period of time. Another important requirement for a cosmetic container is easy operation in capping. No prior arts have succeeded to satisfy both requirements.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks and disadvantages of the prior art cosmetic containers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel construction of a cosmetic container having an improved air-tightness in a capped condition.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cosmetic container capable of satisfying two requirements which could not have been completed by the prior art construction, one for providing an improved air-tightness and the other for allowing easy capping operation.
According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a cosmetic container comprising a housing assembly with an annular external ridge and a cap assembly with an inner cap member engageable with the annular external ridge, characterized in that the inner cap member has a wall portion between upper and lower annular external swells, the wall portion being elastically deformable to provide air-tight engagement with the annular external ridge when the housing assembly is capped with the cap assembly, the lower swell comprising a plurality of spaced segments and acting as a first stopper for preventing removal of the cap assembly from the housing assembly whereas the upper swell comprising an endless continuous ring and acting as a second stopper for preventing excessive insertion of the housing assembly into the cap assembly.
In one embodiment, the lower swell comprises a plurality of spaced segmental annular projections formed substantially around the outer surface of the inner cap member and one or more of dotty projections positioned substantially within each space between adjacent two of the segmental annular projections.
In another embodiment, the lower swell comprises a plurality of spaced segmental annular projections formed substantially around the outer surface of the inner cap member, adjacent two of the segmental annular projections being respectively connected by one or more of connecting ribs having the width smaller than the segmental annular projections. There may be provided auxiliary ribs above and below each of the connecting ribs.
In still another embodiment, the lower swell comprises a plurality of spaced segmental annular projections formed substantially around the outer surface of the inner cap member, adjacent two of the segmental annular projections being respectively connected by connecting parts having the same width with the segmental annular projections. In this embodiment, the lower portion of each of the connecting part may be cut out to provide a slanting bottom surface, or provide an arcuate bottom in cross-section, or provide a substantially S-shaped bottom in cross-section. There may be provided auxiliary ribs above and below each of the connecting parts.
The wall portion between the upper and lower annular external swells may be entirely or partly recessed to provide the elastically deformable wall portion.
One or more of longitudinal projections may be formed on the outer surface of the inner cap member, which extend downward from the lower annular external swell to substantially a lower end of the inner cap member.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a cosmetic container comprising a housing assembly with an annular external ridge and a cap assembly with an inner cap member engageable with the annular external ridge, characterized in that the inner cap member has a wall portion between upper and lower annular external swells, the wall portion being elastically deformable to provide air-tight engagement with the annular external ridge when the housing assembly is capped with the cap assembly, the lower swell being formed to have a wavy periphery in radial cross-section and acting as a first stopper for preventing removal of the cap assembly from the housing assembly whereas the upper swell comprising an endless continuous ring and acting as a second stopper for preventing excessive insertion of the housing assembly into the cap assembly.
In one embodiment, the lower swell has a wavy periphery comprising a continuous curved edge having regularly repeated tops and bottoms.
In another embodiment, the wavy periphery of the lower swell is formed as a milled edge having regularly repeated tops and bottoms.
In still another embodiment, the wavy periphery of the lower swell is formed as a series of arcs of the same diameter.
One or more of longitudinal projections may be formed on the outer surface of the inner cap member, which extend downward from the lower annular external swell to substantially a lower end of the inner cap member. The longitudinal projections may extend from top portions or bottom portions of the wavy periphery of the lower swell.
According to still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a cosmetic container comprising a housing assembly with an annular external ridge and a cap assembly with an inner cap member engageable with the annular external ridge, characterized in that the inner cap member has a wall portion between upper and lower annular external swells, the wall portion being elastically deformable to provide air-tight engagement with the annular external ridge when the housing assembly is capped with the cap assembly, and that the inner cap member has one or more of longitudinal projections on the outer surface thereof which extend downward from the lower annular external swell to substantially a lower end of the inner cap member, the lower swell having a circular cross-section and acting as a first stopper for preventing removal of the cap assembly from the housing assembly whereas the upper swell comprising an endless continuous ring and acting as a second stopper for preventing excessive insertion of the housing assembly into the cap assembly.
The lower swell may comprise an endless continuous ring of a circular cross-section or a plurality of spaced annular projections. The lower swell may also comprise a plurality of spaced segmental annular projections formed substantially around the outer surface of the inner cap member and one or more of dotty projections positioned substantially within each space between adjacent two of the segmental annular projections. The lower swell may also comprise a plurality of spaced segmental annular projections formed substantially around the outer surface of the inner cap member, adjacent two of the segmental annular projections being respectively connected by one or more of connecting ribs having the width smaller than the segmental annular projections.
The lower swell may also comprise a plurality of spaced segmental annular projections formed substantially around the outer surface of the inner cap member, adjacent two of the segmental annular projections being respectively connected by connecting parts having the same width with the segmental annular projections. In this embodiment, the lower portion of each of the connecting part may be cut out to provide a slanting bottom surface, or provide an arcuate bottom in cross-section, or provide a substantially S-shaped bottom in cross-section. There may be provided auxiliary ribs above and below each of the connecting ribs or parts. The wall portion between the upper and lower annular external swells may be entirely or partly recessed to provide the elastically deformable thinned wall portion.